Asura Effect: Naruto Shepard
by antheunis011
Summary: The world of Xashia was kept as a classified patch of space by the C Council . 17 years before Madara tried to submerge the world in Mugen Tsukuyomi, a young Alliance soldier was the only survivor of ship crash landing on the surface of this 'Human' planet. With the power to act free of the C Council Jane attempts to finaly meet her son, only to have her world collapse.
1. And so begins a story

As new genin teams are meant to be well balanced, Naruto is paired up with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, who are some of the brightest in Naruto's class. A jōnin is also assigned to a team, and that jōnin is allowed to make the decision if the three team members will become genin. The jōnin assigned to that team is Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi takes the day to let the team bond by having them each introduce themselves to each other

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Amongst his fellow shinobi peers within the prosperous and very much peaceful Village Hidden in the Leaves, one elite jonin Kakashi Hatake, also known as the son of Sakumo Hatake is notorious for three specific aspects of his behaviour. Some people guessed that he did what he did as a coping system with all that he had seen, some people believe he did it to honour his fallen comrades, while some just believed he was being an ass.

Anyway, the first quirk of this experienced and very much deadly shinobi is his constant use of a face mask that covered his ...well face.

The male ninja of the small Hatake family wore a standard dark blue coloured face mask that covered a large portion of his face from the left side up to the right down. This coupled with his ever present Hitae-ate that the silver haired shinobi used to cover his right eye, the eye socket that sported the fabled Sharingan eye, which the Hatake had received during a mission gone terribly wrong during the last Great Shinobi War from his deceased teammate Obito Uchiha, only left a small portion of his face to be seen at any time of day.

The second quirk of this famous and elite ninja is his obsession with reading the world famous and beloved Icha Icha books. Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye is known to read the smutty novels in the open without care nor discriminance for the thoughts of others, and often used it as a means to push other people's buttons when he didn't want to be talked to.

The last quirk of this man was the currently much hated source of frustration for a trio of gullible and diverse little Academy Graduates.

One of them wore eye-striking orange coloured clothing and had three pairs of whisker marks on his cheeks. The second graduate wore a red outfit consisting of a red shirt and skirt on the top and mesh underneath. She had her hair, a shade of bubblegum pink reaching down to her waist.

The last member of this trio was sitting in his seat with his fingers crossed in front of him, his shin leaning on the connection. He had black hair in the shape of a duck's but and wore a high-colared blue shirt, adorning the crest of the nearly extinct Uchiha clan.

''Owwww, where the hell is this guy?!'' the blonde haired prankster of the Hidden Leaf Village, the one wearing the orange eye sore said as he poked his head through the doors of the high ceiling classroom. He looked to the left, then to the right while trying, and failing to keep himself calm. It wasn't his fault that he had a bunch of energy at any time. He soon started to pace with his feet while remaining on the spot, earning some ire from his crush.

His pacing was the reason that the only girl in the room sighed, before turning to look at him with an annoyed look to her face.

''Naruto, just sit down!'' she ordered of her knuckleheaded teammate as she let her shoulders sag. She glanced at the clock, as the girl was also getting impatient for her sensei, but the boy's actions were wearing her nerves thin.

The boy, apparently called Naruto turned to look at her, the left part of his face still sticking through the door frame. ''I don't want to, Sakura. How come our teacher's the only one that's late, I'm ready to roll Dattebayo'' Turning around as he tried to prove his point, he punched his right hand into his left palm.

''The other groups already took of with their sensei's and are probably on some kind of crazy adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei's gone too!'' he complained as looked at his crush from where he stood by the door, already starting to plan for some sort of revenge on the man that would make him wait.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked away. ''We know okay, you'r not the onl-'' she stopped as she heard the sound that everyone of their year has grown to be trepid of. Her sea-foam green eyes landed on the the orange monstrosity wearing idiot and she had to hold back the sweatdrop. The boy was trying to prank their sensei by making the classroom tool fall on the man's head once he walked in.

''What do you think you are doing, baka?'' Sakura demanded as she glared at the boy, what did he think he was doing, making an ass out of himself. She didn't want to get into trouble because of his mischief on the VERY first day of her career.

Naruto stuck his tongue through the left side of his lips, standing on his toes as he tried to put the swiper as high as he could. ''Hehe, this will teach him to make us wait over three hours.'' he snickered as he imagined the reaction from the idiot-sensei that was being late.

Sasuke had the urge to admonish Naruto in that moment for his stupidity, and as Naruto began to waltz back into his seat the Uchiha heir made his thoughts known to the blonde. ''Our sensei is an elite ninja, a jonin. There's no way that he will fall for something like-''

The young duckbut was cut off from his speech when a head of gravity defying silver- or was it grey, hair poked it's way into the room like a slow sleaze on a hot day, resulting in the chalksweeper landing on the top of it swiftly creating a small plume of chalky smoke.

Sasuke looked at the man in disbelief, the emotion which was well hidden behind a face of annoyance that he had practiced over the years in the presence of fan girls. '_T__hat actually worked. Is this guy some sort of a joke?'_

Naruto started to guwawk at the man, Sakura just stared at the chalk cloud in a small daze while the man looked down to the floor, where the classroom tool had fallen. Without doing anything, not even sighing the silver haired jonin turned his single eye to the members of team 7. ''Hmm how do I put this?'' he though out loud as he gave them a scrutinizing look

"My first impression of you...''

! Naruto leaned forward, sure that he would get praised for his feat.

! Sakura became a large ear, knowing that first impressions were very important in their line of work. They are mercenaries after all.

! Sasuke blinked.

''You're all idiots'' the grey haired Sharingan wielder told them flatly as a series of tick marks sprouted forth from the heads of pink, black and gold like flowers during spring, the late jonin taking no heed of their appearance. With a shake of his head he turned around.

''Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes." He drawled lazily before disappearing with a puff of smoke, making them all cough from the ammount of chakra induced smokyness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While he was leaning on the back of the bronze tinted red railing sprouting from the concrete blocks that made up that floor with his flak covered back and clothed elbows, Kakashi Hatake did his best to closely examine the three academy graduates in front of him while giving of an impression that he was part Nara.

The first to walk through the door's on the rooftop was the kid with a duck but for his hair.

The reports from the chunin Academy Instructors that he had read before coming here about his most recent charges were...sketchy at best. Sasuke Uchiha was pretty much what he had expected him to be like. The preteen had a mysterious and dark air surrounding him, he appeared to be broody, and was obviously anti-social, although he was supposedly the best out of this year's Genin graduates.

Which might not be saying much concerning that the Academy was practically taken over by Civilian Management, but it would be best to let such thoughts rest idle in the recesses of his mind. After the boy his other two charges followed suit, both of them acting highly unprofessional and unbecoming of shinobi on duty.

Sakura Haruno, who was the girl with _the_ weirdest hair colour he had ever seen in his life was supposed to be the top kunoichi of that class, but from what he could see of her, that was certainly not the case. Her arms were skinny and completely without any muscle definition whatsoever, and the way she kept glancing at the Uchiha made him think she was a fan girl.

Taking a better look at the blonde haired kid besides the bubblegum girl, the copy nin came to a conclusion that Minato-sensei's son was the oddest of the bunch. His clothes were a stark contrast to the principles of being stealthy and they seemed to be a little too big for the 12 year old. Although they obviously had plenty of pockets and places to keep various ninja equipment at the ready, they covered his form completely.

He couldn't see if the boy had any muscles or not under all of that.

Adopting an even more aloof attitude than the one he wore up till now, if such a thing was even possible, the cycloptic ninja looked at all three of his newest bell test subjects as they sat down on the stairs before him. Deciding to open the conversation himself, the silver haired jounin spoke in a lazy tone of voice as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time?''

The two kids on the sides both looked at each other in confusion. It was honestly not that hard of a request so the only official ninja present failed to see what could have confused them. The Uchiha in the center didn't even bat an eyelash at him.

Great...

''Well..'' the pink haired girl started out unsurely, as if she was testing out the waters ''What are we supposed to say sensei?''

Resisting the overwhelming urge to sigh at the stupidity of the question asked by the 'smartest' kunoichi of this year he explained in a slow and deliberate voice.

''Things you like. Things you hate...Dreams..for the future..Hobbies. Things like that.'' Kakashi explained as he looked at them with a boored gaze.

"Umm, why don't you go talk to us first sensei, so that we can see how it is supposed to work ?" Naruto requested as he squinted his eyes at the man, amking him loke more feline than he already was. With those wisker marks he did look a lot like a cat or a fox.

''Me..?'' Kakashi pointed a finger at himself, masking the sigh he let out at Naruto's words.

The Jounin then drawled lazily. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate…..'' he adopted a thoughtful expression that was barely visible on that 1/5 piece of his visible face as he looked into the distance behind the trio of idiots. ''..ahh I don't feal like telling you that.''

Both Naruto and Sakura 'huh'-ed in unison.

''My dreams for the future…I've never really thought about it…. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies…" he demonstrated in the worst way possible to his students how should one introduce themselves, already planning out his next S ranked mission after he failed them in his head. While he wanted to teach Sasuke about the Sharingan, it the boy couldn't pass then he wouldn't pass, as simple as that.

''Well that was totally useless, all you really told us was your name.'' Sakura voiced out the shared thoughts of the trio. Sasuke's eye twitched once as he looked at the man in front of him cooly, trying to keep his mask of indiference in the man's presence-

"Ok, your turn. You on the left with the pink hair, you first."

"My name is Sakura Haruno, What I like, I mean the person I like..*looks at Sasuke and blushes*...Uhh my hobby is ..ah...*looks at Sasuke at giggles*..and my dream for the future is *she looks at Sasuke once more and starts squirming in her seat before squealing*''

''And, what do you hate'' Kakashi insisted, wanting to get this farce over with before ha gagged at her attitude.

''NARUTO!''

"Alright, your turn now princess." He ignored the pink haired fan girl and the boy who looked like his entire world had crashed in that moment for now as he switched his lone eye gaze to the boy in the center, already imagining that she will fail the exam like any other kunoichi he had trialed.

'_Girls her age are more interested in boys than in ninja training'_

Sasuke had already been scowling behind his hands because of Sakura's introduction, so the nickname didn't really change his facial expression any. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I WILL make it a reality. I am going to restore my clan and destroy.. a certain someone.''

Kakashi stared at Sasuke with a look that said 'I'm not impressed'. While Sakura was busy staring at Sasuke and thinking how cool he was, Kakashi gestured towards the last of the group, the blonde. "Now you blondie."

The boy visibly brightened at being addressed ny the older ninja and straighted up his back. The Jinchuriki then began fiddling with his goggles as he gave his answer to the question. Kakashi found himself wondering what will it be.

"I like instant ramen in a cup, trying different kinds of ramen. And I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku's. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait while pouring water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them...'' as he spoke Kakashi felt his shoulders sag more and more, his mind already racing to the distant memories of a certain red-head and her obsession with the ramen noodles ''-And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important.''

Kakashi nodded internally at his dream, still fascinated by such an ...introduction before a question mark appeared over his head. ''And your name?'' he drew out the question, leaving it hanging in the air like some old crony.

The whiskered pre-teen smiled sheepishly at forgeting to introduce himself, before pumping his hands into the air with vigour as he yelled out his name for the world to hear. ''Naruto, Naruto Shepard. Believe it!''


	2. Next time I'm going to be stronger

**AN: Who's happy that anime had finally reached the big fights with the Jubi. I'm so happy watching all of those nuke blasts and laser attacks go off, it's awesome.**

* * *

The noon time sun was shining up in the cloud fair sky, glowing in all of its yellow glory as the ground basked in its warmth like it was getting a nice tan on the nearby beach. All around the forest, young birds song their songs, chirping happily as a tall and wizened figure - although that last part was up for debate if you asked some certain Senju's, like the well endowed and busty figure of Godaime Hokage, or maybe the whiskered cheeked figure of the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, made his way through a- for him, familiar grass filled field.

The sight of this memory filled clearing made nostalgia rise up in the pits of his stomach like a case of bad digestion after drinking sour milk, the action making you happy somehow even if it shouldn't.

Weird no?

''He- he- he, so many memories ~'' the man joked to no one in particular as he tapped his nose, reminiscing of the times long past. His eyes dashed from side to side, sometimes lingering on a patch of dirt or a neck of the woods a little more than on some others. As he walked across the hard earth, his traditional Geta sandals clad feet clapped in a rhythm each and every time they connected with the ground. While the man could muffle the sound with hic chakra, he saw no need to do it. Besides the point, he liked the sound of clapping, it usually worked well with his Kabuki introduction.

Without slowing down or stopping in his confidant stride, the tall man with a mane of white hair looked to his right, his eyes trailing over the horizon. The male figure was a tall person, who wore a matching set of clothes- consisting of a green short kimono and short pants under which he had mesh armor shirt, and over which he wore a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side for decorations.

He also carried a rather large scroll on his back, the contract for the Toad summons entrusted to him as the senior and oldest (and up untill recently only living) summoner. He drew in a large breath with hos nose, flaring the nostrils a short moment later as he took in the sights around him like and old grandfather who was loosing touch with his memories, and he couldn't help it, but to be drawn towards his memories of the days as a loser genin. Even then, he had his own healthy set of adventures to boot.

''I think Tsunade-hime got her clothes soaked over there'' he remembered wisfully, before he giggled a very perverted giggle. As a kid, he was a loser who took no bull from no one and worked his ass off for his skills, but even then he was still the weakest of the three.

Today, he was known as the most powerful of the Sannin, a strong warrior and shinobi feared by men all over the nations, a 'ladies man known across various and numerous lands by many names and loved by countless women' (...cough..cough).

The two of his most notable of titles being the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku and the Perverted Sannin.

He was the one and only...

[ INSERT Jiraya Theme Song ]

...The Toad Sage is only his cover...

...

...Allow me to reveal his true identity...

...

...From the North to the South and the East to the West...

...Not even the spirits can defeat this Sannin

...The maned Toad Charmer!

...A red hot ninja, who strikes fear in the hearts of men

...MASTER JIRAI-YA!

After looking around to make sure that there wasn't anyone to spy on his great introduction, the man continued on making his way through the Third Training Ground, the special place where a few selected young Leaf shinobi hone their skills since their graduation from the Shinobi Academy.

This was the place where he and the rest of Team Hiruzen previously trained at, and this was also the very same place where his young and foolish- but good natured and stubborn godson received his own bell test from his sensei Kakashi Hatake, the student of Jiraya's last student- the very same man who started out as an orphan becouse of war and would later go on to become the 4th Hokage, Minato Senju, the notorious Yellow Flash of the Hidden Leaf.

The third training ground is a portion of land located inside Konoha's military perimeter, the area which is closed off to civilians and anyone who isn't a registered Konoha shinobi. Looking towards his right gave him a very generous view of the tall snowy mountains in the distant landscape.

A rather wide, large and deep blue river rich with fish for an odd reason ran on the Toad Sage's left side, with lush forests on both of its sides. The green and brown sprouts of life came to be and grew to it's monumental heights due to the abundant levels of Nature Energy that was rich in the enviroment of Hi no Kuni. While the power of life wasn't nearly as concentrated as it was in the summoning realm areas, it was still richer than any other country in the world besides those pockets of sub-dimension.

The man was now standing in the middle of a glade as a calm wind rushed in through the area, unsettling the grass beneath him. He was standing just several feet away from the three stumps that were lined side by side, poking out of the ground like soldiers in a mock salute.

The memory of how he himself was once tied to one of those stumps brought a good natured chuckle out of the man's lips.

He looked away from the slabs of wood with a small shake of his head as he continued to walk towards his initial destination, which was a very important monument in the shape of a kunai. It was the structure that was more commonly known as the Memorial Stone , a monument in Konohagakure no Sato listing all the ninja who died in service to the village. – all of them designated as KIA, Killed in Action.

As the beautifully decorated and respect inspiring green monument came within his sights, the white haired man immediately spotted the ever familiar silver haired figure of Kakashi Hatake. The man who spent too much of his free time at the monument, rotting his time away simply gazing at a number of names, in particular one of them much more than any other.

The name of his former comrade, Obito Uchiha.

''So…today's the day eh?'' the perverted sannin heard the younger shinobi ask him as he approached him, coming to a halt by his right side. The Toad Sage crossed his arms over his muscled chest, crushing the urge to reprimand the man for wasting his time standing there, for no reason but thinking about his past and failures.

But he didn't, since he himself wasn't much better than the son of the White Fang. And this made him bitter inside. Even while the ex-anbu rotted his time away in this place, Jiraiya opted to run away from his responsibilities as a godfather, shrieking away from his duties to his yellow haired student- and the boy who he viewed as a son when he was alive.

''Yes'' the white manned sage replied simply and shortly as his eyes quickly found the name that he was looking for on the monument, the name of one Minato Senju.

The two ninja simply stood there for a while as time ticked away slowly, too slowly, neither one of them speaking a word. They were to lost in the thoughts of the past and what had they both lost.

''What do you think Minato-sensei would think of me, Lord Jiraya?'' Kakashi found himself being the first to break the silence with a question to the toad sage as he looked away from Obito's name and towards the distant mountains off in the...distance...huh?

Jiraiya turned his head around and leaned it a little to the side as it gave him enough space to look in surprise in intrigue at Kakashi.

'' 'Bout what Kakashi?'' he asked, needing a bit more clarification on the subject, although he had a pretty good idea what the 'boy' was asking about. The sage looked back at the monument, simply staring at the soft gem-like surface.

''I haven't taught Naruto anything in the year that he was with me. I taught Sasuke my signature jutsu and several other techniques, powerful fire techniques, gave him special training when he needed and wanted it...and look at what it got me.'' He said in a neutral tone that gre remorseful and soft at the end. The man clenched his right fist untill the knukcles turned white as he remembered the scene he arrived at a few months ago, and how badly the blonde looked after the battle at the Valley of the End.

That giant wound in the middle of his chest, the flesh and blood cauterised hole in his torso, the wound caused by his own jutsu, the Chidori. He didn't give the more experienced ninja more time to think of an answer as he continued.

''One of my students is a traitor and ran off to the greatest of Konoha's enemies, the man who murdered the Sandaime Hokage. The boy who received the most attention, even took most of my time away from the other...'' he couldn't continue with those words, as each and every single word he spoke made him think that he was trash. He didn't want to be trash, not again.

''My other students are both leaving me to be taught by other shinobi, you and Lady Tsunade.'' Kakashi said remorsefully as he brough his left hand up. He fiddled with the Hitai-ate over his left eye, as the sharingan eye itched occasionally in his socket. He ignored the surprised look the Toad Sannin gave him at his words, and didn't know whatever to be happy or angry that the man hadn't interrupted him yet.

So he settled for his usual indifferent attitude.

Jiraiya didn't interrupt because he knew that the boy- now man needed to get it off his chest. The Sharingan wielder was both sad and regretful about his actions, but he'll be alright.

...Hopefully.

''I neglected their training from day one and showed favoritism, something Minato-sensei never did. I failed Obito and Rin.''Kakashi admitted as he closed his only visible eye. He was feeling really, really sad and very regretful of his negligence and honestly wished to make up for it.

But he knew that he didn't have any more time. Both Sakura and Naruto were being taken as full time apprentices, one by a traveling spy master and the other by the busy Hokage. Their training was out of his hands now. The best he could hope was that they remained cordial with him after growing in skill and power under their respective masters.

Jiraiya shook his head at the man's words. Honestly, Kakashi was wrong on both accounts, of that the Super Pervert was absolutely sure off. In reality, Naruto took his teachings straight to his heart since the day that he passed the test and cherished them with both respect and love, while Sakura herself had gained a particularly strong will and stubborn attitude about protecting her comrades out of those same teachings.

A smile crossed his face as he turned around fully in order to place his hand over the younger ninja's shoulder. ''ahh…but you are wrong there Kakashi''

He smirked as the silver haired fan of Icha Icha looked at him with a doubtful and surprised face all in one package, along with a serving of hope in his one visible eye, flickering like a small candle under harsh winds.

''Naruto has learned his most important lesson from you, one that the knucklehead had forged his own beliefs out of. And Sakura, well she became a strong willed girl that had managed to impress even Tsunade-hime by her attitude and potential.''

''You taught them enough, trust me'' he patted him one the shoulder with a bit more power and smirked internally as he saw the man nearly stumble from the pressure. The man wasn't prepared and barely managed to save his face, as he gave the hermited toad a small glare.

Jiraiya, unbained by the glare, continued ''-every sensei, no matter how fair he taught his students, no matter how strict he was with them.. he will always concentrate on some students more than on the others.'' He rolled his right hand in front of him, inspecting the small tattoos that he had under his palm with one keen eye, the other closed in concentration.

''It's the way teaching works. Sarutobi-sensei did it to us, I did it to my own team and Minato did as well, you probably just don't remember or didn't notice it before'' he commented airily as he put the arm back over his chest.

Kakashi mulled over the taller man's words as he looked at the monument before frowning in thought. ''Maybe, but still...they deserved more.''

''Perhaps...but they will always respect you'' Jiraiya countered as he started to walk away from the monument, the jonin following suit a moment later.

The two Konoha shinobi started to approach the normal- civilian, part of the village itself. Jiraiya was scribbling something into his little book, giggling every now and then while Kakashi read his Icha Icha dutifully, sometimes attempting to peek over into the notes.

It was when he saw a small kid and the boy's mother running after him with a large smile on her face, that he remembered something he wanted to ask. It was honestly a lost hope to the man, but he knew that if something ever came up, that he would do his best and give his all to follow the trail, no matter how faint it was.

Clearing his throat to get the older ninja's attention he leaned over and asked in a whisper. The village had ears as the saying went and this was not the type of information to discuss publically.

''Jiraya-sama, did your spies find any leads or news pertaining Naruto's mother yet?''

All playfulness at the ideas he had about his next book were gone the moment Kakashi asked the delicate question. The hermit toad's face scrunched into a thoughtful frown as he let out a loud sigh. He shook his head for added measure of frustration.

''Nope, still no words about Jane, neither hign nor low.'' Jiraya commented as he narrowed his eyes, adopting a thoughtful face. ''Sometimes I wonder if the ground simply swallowed her, as ridicilous as that sounds.''

Kakashi's shoulders sagged in depression at those words, his hopes diminishing a little bit more once more. He really wanted to give Naruto a piece of the family that he was supposed to grow up with

''She wasn't a ninja so this is making it an even harder task. It's hard to find any evidence about her when you don't know what to look for. Kidnapping is out, since nobody knew about her relations with Minato, nor about her giving birth to the Yondaime's heir.'' Jiraya lamented lamely as they stopped walking and approached a blossoming tree, being carefull to remain out of earshot.

''I still don't believe she left the boy on purpose, you remember how hyper she was about being a mother.'' Kakashi reminded the man sternly, not about to let the man believe she left on her own. The lady that somehow stole his sensei's heart was a very kind woman who dragged his ass out of his brooding depression.

Kidnapping was the only answer that they could give to her sudden disappearance from Konoha.

The fact that she went missing only a few days before the November 8th, the day that the Kyuubi simply appeared in the middle of the village, barely 2 months after Naruto's birth only gave the man more strength to such thoughts. Minato was a nervous wreck by then, having spent almost all off his time searching for her and ordering his ANBU to do the same.

It was a miracle in itself that he had enough strength to even fight Kyuubi, the fact that he still had enough strength to actually seal it away was a shock, although it did take him some time to appear before the beast when it attacked the village.

The two powerful ninjas continued to talk as they started to move into the village, trying to brainstorm any ideas as to what might have happened to Jane Shepard, but as usual, it didn't give them anything concrete to work with.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Somewhere within the titanic walls of defense that guard the Village Hidden in the Leaves day in and day out, there is a small restaurant which served ramen. This restaurant was run by a man called Teuchi and his lovely daughter Ayame.

This establishment is called Ichiraku Ramen, and the shop is Naruto Shepard and Iruka Umino's favourite place to eat when they have the free time. Like now, for example.

Right now, both of them were eating their ramen with vigour as they discussed the events of Naruto's last mission, where the Leaf and Sand once again worked together. This joint mission was headed by the recently dubbed members of the Hidden Leaf's Konoha 12 group, minus Sasuke of course.

The rookie genin and chunin all worked together alongside the trio of Sand siblings- Gaara, Kankuro and Temari Sabaku to stop another madman with disillusions about conquering the world. All in a day's work for our young hero.

Naruto was eating out of a generous sized bowl of noodle delight, and the sounds of Naruto greedily slurping up his meal tried to win over the sound of the two part family cooking the dishes in the kitchen. As this contest broke through the air, the topic of their talk finally reached the most important part of the day. And as it did, the older shinobi wearing a standard Konoha flak jacket looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye.

''So...I hear you've got quite a journey ahead of you.'' Distraitfully, Iruka commented taking his eye off the blonde troublemaker and swallowing his food, enjoying the fine and delicious taste of the soup as it traveled down his throat.

''Yep!'' Naruto nodded twice, sending his unruly hair to wave around briefly as he slurped down his food at a fast rate, one that would keep even most Akamichi's on their toes in an eating contest. On his right, Iruka swallowed another piece of the heavenly noodles before turning to look at Naruto again.

''Hey Naruto, Listen up...'' he tried getting the whiskered teen's attention and without waiting for the blonde haired genin to respond, the brown haired ninja decided to give him a nice little lecture on how he should act.

Iruka hopped that the message will reach the Jinchuriki and push through his thick skull. ''You keep focussed out there, no goofing of alright!'' he gave him a pointed look, knowing all to well just how much trouble and problem inducing the boy could be when he was bored.

Naruto turned to look at his ex-sensei with indignation showing on his face. ''Focuss is my middle name sensei, believe it'' he pointed his chopsticks at the man.

''Uh-huh''

Naruto didn't catch the 'not so hidden' sarcasm in the scarred chunin's rebuttal as he continued to eat his meal, finishing up with the noodles just in time as someone put a hand through the flaps of the shop.

An older face with red lines running down from the owner's eyes and sporting a noticable wart on the left side of the said man's were the first clues as to who it was. The man briefly looked around before his eyes settled on the back of his young protegé. ''Allright, time to hit the road Naruto'' he informed the kid as he walked out of the shop, missing the lively okay from said genin.

Naruto swallowed down the last of his soup as he let out a content sigh, turning to look at Iruka with a beaming smile. ''Thanks a lot for the ramen Iruka-sensei, ill pay you back'' before the older shinobi could say anything, the young Shepard added. ''In fact when I'm Hokage, I'll buy you lunch!'' The boy hopped of the stool before his Academy teacher could offer any sort of protests.

''When you'r'' Iruka disbeliefly tsked as he put down some money on the counter and walked out of the shop, just in time to see the boy walking alongside Jiraya of the Sannin. Naruto must have senses someone's eyes on him with his 'dull' ninja senses, because he looked behind his back, his face widening into a smile as she spotted Iruka. He brough his right hand up and waved at the man a second later.

_'good luck naruto'_

The perverted duo of shinobi made their way through the ever busy streets of Konohagakure no Sato, with Naruto looking around as if he was trying to ingrave each and every building into his memory from the ground up.

And then, he stopped.

With determination shining in his blue eyes, the young Kyuubi Jinchuriki and a half-Senju half- human turned around on his feet. The blonde haired genin leveled the Hokage mountain faces a determined look, his eyes showing a light of promise that he would never fail to fulfill, even if it cost him his life.

Slowly, he brough his right- the Rasengan hand up in front of his face. Placing it over the picture of his childhood hero and idol, the Yondaime Hokage he clenched it with all the power he could.

''I'm gonna get stronger, just you watch me!'' he didn't know why, but in that moment he felt like a wave of appreciation and happiness came at him from the faces that looked over the village, and he grinned.

A second later, the moment was broken by a shout from his newest sensei.

''Sometimes this year would be nice Naruto. Let's go!''

''-eeh okay, okay'' the boy yelled as he turned around and proceeded to run after his new master who was making his way towards the gates at a fast pace. ''I'm coming, I'm coming, wait up''


	3. The New Spectre son's Homecoming

**James**: No it can not be Naruto X Tali X Kelly. This is going to be pure N x Kelly once they meet.

* * *

''Arim, power down the lights please'' a male voice stated simply as several people took their seats around what appeared to be an Oak wooden table with a metallic outlay placed in the middle of the cubical office. The table was semi-oval in shape and on the wider side of the halfvination with 5 chairs placed in a row on either sides of the table.

The office was soon darkened by shadows as the power feeding to the illumination system was reduced to a bare minimum by the automated VI system coordinating such petty tasks.

''Anything else Captain Anderson?'' Arim responded in her usual perky tone of voice. However anyone listening to her voice would have caught the important fact that her voice was notably synthetically sounding- such a thing rarely escaped one's grasp.

Arim is one of the Citadel VI's, a virtual intelligence unit whose template was based on that of a human college student. Like any other VI, she is a sophisticated program designed to make modern computer systems easier to use, but didn't have actual intelligence nor was she 'aware'.

Captain Anderson when upright stands at six feet and three inches tall and cut quite an imposing picture for a mere human. Wearing the Systems Alliance Navy uniform of dark blue and gold trimming he was a respected officer and was also knowns as a hero from the First Contact War, the unfortunate conflict between Humanity and the Turian Hierarchy.

''That will be all Arim, thank you.'' David Anderson responded with his no nonsense tone of voice while still sounding somewhat polite and turned his head to the side, in order to look at the man sitting on the opposite side of him expectantly.

That person's mandibles twitched in amusement seeing the impatient look surfacing on the captain's face as he typed several commands into the interface before him.

A small cube with round edges sat at the center of the table. It then sprung to electrical life as a light exploded out of the projector lenses on top of it, setting the stage for one of Humanity's hallmark achievements in the Galactic society. The hologram illuminated the room that they were sitting in as the intended holographic images formed before them in rapid succession.

''Gentlemen...and Admiral, shall we proceed?'' another male voice asked besides Anderson. The Captain turned in his seat to look at his fellow human sitting on his right, a man called Donnel Udina. The white suit wearing politician was humanity's most recent ambassador to the Citadel Council races. Now Anderson didn't particularly like this man since he was a soldier and soldiers never trusted politicians to a fault, but the captain of humanity's most advanced and fastest Mass Effect Core Ship, Systems Alliance Space Vehicle Normandy Stealth Reconnaissance-1, could recognize the man to be a determined individual whose goal is to advance human interests wherever possible.

It didn't mean he had to like him. Politics were never his thing.

''Yes, I am sure that you would want this decision to be finally reached'' both looked towards the alien man sitting on the opposite side of them. The red coloured turian parted with his own thoughts as he leaned forward into the table with his hands clasped before him, his mandibles twitching once more as he waited. His response was a collective and affirmative murmur from the humans in the room.

With a nod of his head to the last human in the room he- and in effect all the other occupants of the room all turned their gazes to the holographic projection of lights and particles as several files sprang up in front of them, each and every one of them casting different particles of light into the darkness.

Every one of those files showed a human soldier in the Alliance Navy, each and every one of them exceptional in their own fields and all of them having reached certain achievements in the past. Pictures, age and rank along with an overview- a brief history of their military record and any distinguished accolades, all of this was part of information that they had been narrowing down over the course of two months.

And so the onlookers of all of this information launched into a discussion over their final choice. The decision to choose the one man or woman who would soon enter history as the first human Specter- a group of special operatives that work directly for the Council and are granted the power to be above the law. The Spectres were modeled upon the salarian Special Tasks Group; granted supralegal authority instead of subordinate to common law, declared exempt from oversight instead of based within a command structure, and selected in recognition of a history of superior capability instead of trained.

Who would be the their best hope in furthering humanity in the universe?

The Turian sat there and listened patiently as the humans discussed between themselves about this important decision, sometimes offering his own input for the final selection. He was the one charged with helping them choose based on all requirements for the status that was above anything Humans gained so far.

However, no matter what they read or who they talked about, they just couldn't decide who they wanted to become their special human. Nihlus soon grew tired of this and would have taken the choice out of their hands, as was his power as a Citadel Spectre before the only female occupant in the room offered the name of the soldier that he had remembered reading about once in the Spectre reports, some good 15-16 years ago when the Council came across a problematic affair on the fringe of Citadel Space borders.

The last occupant of the room was also a human. She was a woman, an admiral of the System Alliance Fleet in her mid 50's with aging brown hair. She wore a silver eagle patch on her left shoulder and the Systems Alliance insignia on her right shoulder, chipped and made to look respectful. The eagle served to show her to be the current head of the Systems Alliance Special Operations Task Force and the person currently in charge of the humanity's N7 program.

She scrolled down the selection on her own board with a single finger untill she reached the name that she knew all to well. With the slightest of smirks visible on her face she selected it. That particular file soon sprang up into the screen, rapidly increasing in size untill it took the entire screen. The picture in the file showed what appeared to be a red haired woman in her mid 30's with blue eyes and a round face.

''How about her, Jane Shepard?'' the admiral tone of voice meant that this was a statement more than a question. She relaxed back into her own chair as she turned to look at the rest of the people in the room, all males with one delicately raised eyebrow and a taunting gleam in her forest green eyes. Anderson hummed and Nihlus watched the events from where he sat, peeking to glance at his omni-tool every so often.

The humanity's representative- chancelor Udina frowned as he looked at the file with a static demeanour shining- or better yet dulling in his rigid and uptight form.

''Shepard Junior huh? The girl that proved herself during the Blitz conflict...'' he said as he turned to look at the Admiral with a furrowed eyebrow ''Admiral Shepard, if I didn't know you any better that I do..I would have thought that you were trying to pull some connections for your daughter with this stunt.'' He informed her as he looked back at the file, reading the woman's record, trying to find anything that might make her ineligible for the position.

The older woman still leaning back into her own chair sporting a relaxed attitude took out a pencil and started playing with it as she stared at the side of Udina's face with a calculating face.

The politicians words didn't really phase her nor did she care if it looked that way in the man's eyes, she knew her own daughter well and the girl needed no connections from her to get around the military. Inclining her head to the side, she sent the other Alliance officer a meaningful look and let captain Anderson talk as he was her daughter's current commanding officer.

She was not about to enter a verbal contests with chancellor Udina. Such a thing often proved unwise when facing the man, as he had a way of twisting your words to his own goals, a skill that she didn't appreciate all that much as a soldier but as a high ranking officer knew that it was an important skill.

''Jane Shepard, daughter of Rear-Admiral Elena Shepard; Age: 35, Rank: Commander and a N7 operative. Famous for being the only survivor of the SSV Aelo disaster in the middle of the Terminus outer expanse and on the border of Citadel Space. Also well respected for her valiant efforts during the battle for Elysium. Took command of the ground forces and held the opposition off untill reinforcements could arrive and push back. Received the Naval Cross twice..." Captain Anderson said as he the file in a firm tone, even if he knew most of the information in there already. The Frigate CO looked at the Turian Spectre in front of him as he waited for the man's input, already knowing that anyone they put forward would first have to be approved by the man.

"That's the reason Elysium is still even colonized and prospering, am I right?'' Nihlus asked as he looked at the file more intently, before turning to what he recognised to be the most problematic of humans in this discussion.

''Well Councilor Udina, do you have anything to say that would veto Commander Jane Shepard from becoming a Citadel Spectre candidate?" he asked and waited for the man's response, his voice still resounding in the room with that distinguishable turian accent

Udina put his hand up to his chin as he closed his eyes, thinking over what would be his best move then and there. With his eyes closed he commented "We can't question her courage, that's for sure. She has been amongst the youngest to graduate from the N7 program and is seen a hero for her actions in the past. Her status as the best Commander in the Alliance Navy isn't just for show.''

From what he knew of the female soldier she was a lot like her mother in personality, known to bring results when it was needed and an inspiring figure for others to follow. She will questions orders when her people are in deadly jeopardy but will always pull through the mission no matter the danger. A stubborn woman who dedicated her life to the military and will not let herself be fucked around. A woman with firm beliefs.

Pretty much the right person for the job, as long as she learned to keep her mouth shut when needed. The tragic loss of SSV Aelo on it's experimental Phase Jump was really the only black mark on her record and it wasn't like it was her fault. The SSV Aelo was the first human FTL vessel that didn't rely on Mass Effect Fields to propel it across space, but it would seem that the propulsion system was too dangerous to use.

Opening his eyes and eyeing the file for one more time he glanced at the admiral on his own right, the woman looking all too pleased with herself since she knew what decision he had reached, before turning around to look at the captain on his left.

''Anderson, she is a member of your crew. The decision rest in your hands'' he let the man decide in the end.

''I think she would make a great Spectre. Nihlus?'' Anderson stated simply as he looked at the turian officer who had his left arm in front of him, the omni-tool glowing with life.

Nihlus used his Omni-tool to make a copy of the file as he gave his own thought out response. He liked what he read but his own Spectre Omni-tool was giving him an alert, something that only happened when the subject in question was tied into one of the Spectre classified files. "She sound to be considerably talented and shows up every requirement that the Spectres give. Even the guidelines that we keep secret...'' he trailed off with his free arm as he clamped his mouth shut, mandibles reacting briefly knowing that he shouldn't be revealing even that information but aware that something as harmless as that wouldn't hurt.

Spectres really were a secretive bunch. Alliance didn't even know how many Spectres the Citadel Council had. Standing up from his seat he looked at the humans in the room, informing them of his decision.

''I will have to talk to my fellow Spectres about her before the Council reaches the final decision, but I have every confidence that they will agree with me." Nihlus added for the sake of common courtesy before shutting the projection off and walking to the entrance into the room in order to contact the rest of the Council and the Spectres currently on station.

Elena Shepard watched silently as the turian Spectre walked away from the room while the lights in the room slowly and automatically turned on, a concerned expression carefully masked on her face.

As an admiral she wanted to give the best that they could offer to the plate, but as a mother she had her own reasons for wanting Jane to enter the Spectre system – and all of them were in concern with her own daughter.

She frowned as she remembered the incident 17 years ago when the SSV Aelo and its crew were declared MIA. For two long years there was no sign of the girl nor of the ship as the Alliance tried to search the space. But the void was large and there were only certain planets that could be reached with their Mass Effect drives. Then suddenly, she was found one day by Asari Spectres. The problem was that the girl was missing her memories and had signs- albeit concealed that she had recently given birth.

After that Elena was never trustful of the Citadel Council, especially when they said that where they found her was a secret. From that day onward she had always suspected that the Citadel had something to do with the loss of SSV Aelo- the entire situation was just too fishy. That ship would have pushed humanity to the forefront of the scientific community as it was 5 times faster than conventional FTL drive and didn't overheat if used for prolonged durations.

The loss of memories could have been easily accomplished by either the Salarian technology or Asari's mental biotic powers, and anything she had tried digging up on that part of space came up too short.

She knew that there was something there that the Council tried to keep hush hush, something that was worth being covered up from humanity by the council and she intended to find out what it was.

''Captain Anderson, go and get your new frigate ready to leave- tell them that it will be a standard shakedown. When Nihlus and the Council reach their final decision, we should have a ship worthy of the test being done up to speed. I will contact Fleet Admiral Hacket to tell him of this development" she ordered flatly as the officer stood up, her eyes still set on where the turian had left the office.

''Yes Ma'am!'' Anderson saluted curtly as he left the office, leaving only Elena and Udina in the room. Elena then soon left as she received a call on her omni-tool, leaving Udina alone in thought. "_So the turian actually allowed us to choose a Spectre...hmm...that was unexpected. Now, how to further this without complications. We are already having trouble with Spectre status as it is with humanity not being all that well liked in the Galactic community, and after Anderson's screw up years ago we haven't had another opportunity like this... but if we succeed this time, maybe we can get on the Citadel Council earlier..._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konohagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Leaves. It is a place where so many accomplished shinobi and kunoichi alike have thrived since their birth. Ever since it was founded by the alliance between Madara and Hashirama- Uchih and Senju, It has produced powerful leaders and famous ninja, so powerful were these shinobi that the village was considered one of the strongest of the five elemental nations even with their least military intent ways. For the occupants of this busy village, it seemed to be like any other day as the sun rose over the horizon slowly, they yellow rays of sunshine peeking over the mountains and the trees, showing the outlines of the many buildings within it's walls.

But not all was as it seemed.

Two figures were walking at a leisure pace in the direction of the village on the dusty earth path leading to the main gates of the village. One of these figures was a tall man with a mane of white hair while the other was slightly shorter with blonde spiky hair early similar to that of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Senju.

They both walked with the poise and confidence of real shinobi, not paranoid but always aware of their surroundings.

"Can you believe that it's been three years already?" Asked the tall figure as he watched the birds flying over head.

"Meh...It kind of seemed like just yesterday to me..." the shorter shinobi replied in a happy tone as he watched the gates of the village come to view.

"Well with your knack to lose track of time, I'm not really surprised to hear that" the tall figure said teasingly as he slung an arm over his younger companion's shoulder.

"Well I couldn't help it. I wasn't focused on time" the shorter figure retorted as he ducked under the slung, dashing away to keep out of the man's reach, knowing that the man loved testing him with such tricks. He would come close with a non-threatening demeanour then attack him.

"Whatever you say," The tall figure said as a grin spread over his face, amusement clearly evident in his voice as he looked at the boy that has been his latest student. The blonde haired teen had grown in mind, body and ninjutsu, his growth having surpassed all of his expectations. He could be confidant that Naruto could handle anything under S rank shinobi with little difficulty.

"I wonder how much things have changed?"

"Only one way to find out, right?"

They passed through the tall and impressive gates of Konoha, not bothering with checking in at the gate station- such were the traveling rights of a Sannin. They walked through the busy and lively streets of the thriving village, with the boy soon jumping onto a tall pole in order to have a better look over the village.

'_Hehe, they added Grandma Tsunade's face to the cliff'_ he noted as he took a deep breath. He had missed this place and it hasn't changed one bit. The sounds and the smells, the buildings and the atmosphere. It was all as he had remembered.

''KONOHA- I AM BACK!''

The white haired man with red lines running down his face laughed at the sight and sound of his exuberant student shouting his arrival to the whole village. The kid surely had spunk. ''Hehe, he sure is excited to be back''


End file.
